As fly fishermen many of us know the value of Pennsylvania's Delayed Harvest areas. These are places where we can be pretty sure of finding fish throughout the fishing season when a lot of the open water has been fished out. Sometimes we share the Delayed Harvest areas with spin fishermen who are fishing using a single barbless hook and most of the time these anglers too, are careful to release their trout unharmed, sharing the same philosophy about the environment and the fish. On other stretches, the regulations may be fly fishing only, but regardless of the regulations, there is no doubt that these regulated areas are successful and attract anglers who think alike.
Well, now we read that the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission is considering a change in the regulations to allow bait fishing. This, of course, is causing quite a stir - as it should. We should be down right mad, fighting mad. Whether we can stop this nonsense remains to be seen, but we urge everyone to read TCO's blog this week and make your voices heard.